Diagon Alley

"That is the Firebolt," Avery said, "It's the fastest broom you can buy, but it's also very expensive."

Realizing that her friend wouldn't have any idea about any of their uses for the brooms, she decided she'd better back up. "We use broomsticks to fly," She explained, "And we also have a sport that is played on them, called Qudditch. You'll see it at Hogwarts. Each of the four houses has a team and they compete for the Qudditch cup each year. But we're not allowed to try out for the team or bring a broom with us until we're in our second year."

"Oh, yay. Sports." Amy's tone remained completely flat through her 'joyous exclamation'. She'd never really enjoyed sports that much. There were always so many rules, and most of the time it just boiled down into people running back and fort across a field after some sort of ball. And there wasn't even the comedy potential of someone getting hurt - there would always be a referee yelling at the players before it got to that point. "Ah well. I guess I'll have to learn more about it later. Time for books?"

"Sure," Avery agreed. She stopped staring at the Firebolt and headed in the direction of the bookstore. As they walked, she looked at the list of textbooks that they were required to have.

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

Once they reached the bookstore, she wasted no time in disappearing among the books, making sure Amy followed her, quickly locating the books on the list and gathering them into her arms.

Once Amy and Avery had located the books that were necessary for school, Amy to the opportunity of a passing crowd to slip off to see the rest of the bookstore. There were more than a few really interesting titles on the shelves. 1001 Ways for Potions to go Horribly Wrong and How to Avoid Those Mistakes looked amusing enough. There was also a book that started singing at her when she opened it to look through the pages.

A low growling sound caught her attention, and Amy grinned widely. Only a moment later, she made her way back to Avery with a furry, multi-eyed book purring at her as she scratched the title. "Can I keep it?" she asked, indicating the lone copy of The Monster Book of Monsters in the store.

Avery stared at Amy in surprise. Although she really shouldn't be that surprised that Amy would like the book that was also part monster. "You won't need that book until our third year," She said, "I'm pretty sure that's the book they're still using for the Care of Magical Creatures class."

"Hey! Triple A Number Two!" Yelled a voice from behind them in the store. Avery flinched slightly at the sound and even Amy let out a small, annoyed growl. "Wow! And look, it's Number Three as well! What are you doing here Three A?"

Amy glanced down at her Monster Book of Monsters for a second. "Sic 'em." She ordered, glaring over at the young boy who was running towards them and bumping into adults and other children as he approached. The book just snarled briefly and then went back to purring and nudging at her hand, so Amy just shrugged. "Worth a try. What the bloody heck are you doing here Jake?"

Jake Patricks was a boy in the girls' school who had quickly designated the three girls as the "Triple A's" since all three of their names started with the same letter. Needless to say, this had made him an immediate enemy of the girls. The boy finally reached Amy and Avery and grinned at them without much concern for Amy's obvious dislike. "Didn't know you were a witch too, Three A, thought you were just a regular, straight up muggle like everybody else in town. And where's Triple A Number One?" He looked around curiously, but didn't catch sight of whom he was looking for.

Avery grimaced as Amy's head suddenly jerked up in shock. "Wait a minute! Ash is a witch, too?! Why am I the only one who didn't know about all this witchy, magical, abracadabra-y stuff?!"

Jake's grin widened. "Well, lookie, lookie, the bond weakens! Triples One and Two are gonna be in so much trouble! Well, I gotta go get my books, so I'll catch you guys later! See'ya!"

Avery watched Jake go, not even bothering to say goodbye before turning back to Amy. "Yes, Ash is a witch too. I probably should have mentioned that, shouldn't I have? She'll be going to Hogwarts with us. Wouldn't it be great if we were all in the same house?"

She wasn't sure why that hadn't occurred to her. Of course it would be of interest to Amy that Ash was also a witch. But seeing that their other friend had been away when the letters arrived, it might explain why she hadn't thought to mention it. She'd been too caught in excitement explaining the entire world to Amy.

Amy huffed slightly. "Well, that would have been nice to know a little earlier..." she trailed off before starting over, suddenly bright and perky. "But there's no sense dwelling on stuff like that, is there?" Amy grinned. "And it will be totally awesome if we were in the same house." She glanced down at the book she was petting. "I... should probably go put this back." The Monster Book of Monsters growled slightly, and Amy quickly continued. "Look, I wouldn't have any real use for you!" she said, addressing the book. "It would be much better if you went home with someone who needed you!" she continued as she walked back through the shelves.

Smiling in amusement, Avery followed her friend, all of her books starting to feel heavy in her arms. "Let's pay for our books and go get our wands!" She said eagerly.

After all, that was the part she'd been looking for ever since arriving in Diagon Alley. No, she corrected herself. She'd been waiting to get her wand since the beginning of the summer, since last year, since the time she'd known what a wand was. The few minutes between then and the time she'd have her wand in her hand suddenly seemed really long and she wanted nothing more then to take off towards Olivander's wand shop. She had been patient for long enough.

"That is a good idea," Amy announced, finally coaxing the Monster Book back onto the shelf without it trying to leap back at her. "Because I'm pretty sure wands are important." She grinned, heading back toward the front desk and paying for her books. "Also, it might be cool enough to make me forget that the Jerk was around. Which would be a good thing."

"Yeah," Avery agreed, "He's one that I wish was a muggle. So that he couldn't continue being annoying all the way through Hogwarts. I hope he's sorted into whatever house we aren't in."

Passing her pile of books to her father, who shrunk them with his wand and added them to the things in his pocket, Avery quickened her pace towards Olivander's.

Upon reaching their destination and pushing open the door, she looked around at the seemingly empty place, filled from floor to ceiling with small, thin, dusty boxes. One of those contained the wand that she was going to leave with. Avery couldn't stop herself from grinning.

Olivander appeared out of nowhere. Apparently have been alerted to their presence by the jingling of the bell that had been on the door. "Miss Armistead," he said, "I was wondering when I would be seeing you."

Avery almost jumped in surprise. Both from his sudden appearance and the fact that he knew who she was.

Amy also jumped slightly, still surprised despite the fact that the man had appeared a reasonable distance from her. "Do you always do that?" she asked, equal parts curious and annoyed. The massive shelves were making her feel slightly nervous, despite her excitement about the idea of getting a magic wand of her own.

"I'm usually working in the back until someone comes in." Olivander looked over both of them. "Is your wand hand your left or your right?"

"My right," Avery told him as she leaned over and spoke quietly to Amy. "He means are you left or right handed."

While it might not be very hard to figure out, it was probably easier to just explain anything that could come up rather then waiting to see if her friend understood it or not.

Amy frowned slightly. "I'm right-handed," she said, before leaning over to her friend. "Is he trying to make this difficult, or am I just getting all claustrophobic-ey again? It's hard to tell." She whispered.

Avery shrugged. "I've always heard that he's strange. I wouldn't be surprised if he did this with everyone."

Olivander, who had disappeared among the wands when he found out what hand they used, came back with a selection of wands. He carefully lifted one out of the box and looked at it before placing it in Avery's hand. "Willow, dragon heartstring, 14 and a quarter inches."

Taking it into her hand, Avery flicked the wand, jumping backwards in surprise as a nearby lamp exploded.

"No, that's not it," Olivander said, as Avery handed the wand back to him as she told him that she hadn't meant to do that.

"Try this one." Avery looked at the second wand nervously. "Oak, unicorn hair, 14 and three quarter inches."

A flick of that wand sent things flying out of their places and Avery jumped again. "I'm sorry! I'm making such a mess of your shop!"

Olivander ignored her, before selecting another wand and handing it to Avery. "Holly, phoenix feather, 15 inches."

Taking hold of the wand, which looked to Avery to have a simpler design then the last two, Avery felt a warmth flood through her. The wand let off a few sparks and without having to be told, Avery knew that this one was hers.

Amy couldn't help but giggle as the various wands that Avery tried smashed things and generally caused havoc. That last one seemed to fit, though, since nothing really visible happened. Olivander seemed pleased with it, though, and Amy figured that he knew what he was doing. She squeaked slightly as the old man turned to her.

"You said that your wand hand is on the right, correct?" he asked, but was off among the shelves before Amy had the chance to answer. He returned, just as quickly. "Try this. Willow, phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches." Amy picked it up cautiously. When she waved the wand, absolutely nothing seemed to happen. Amy felt slightly disappointed.

"Hmm. That's not it," Olivander said, whisking away with the wand and returning with a different one. "Ash, dragon heartstring, fourteen and a third inches," he explained as he handed the new one to Amy. She waved it vaguely, and a number of boxes fell dangerously close to her head.

"Eep!" Amy ducked and quickly handed the wand back to Olivander.

"Maple, unicorn hair, ten inches." A loud noise indicated something crashing to the floor near the back of the shop.

"Oak, dragon heartstring, fifteen inches." All the dust in the store seemed to fly up at once. Amy was not happy with the minor allergy attack that resulted.

"Ebony, unicorn hair, 10 inches." That wand seemed to agree with Amy. Nothing crashed, nothing exploded, and honestly... Amy had a feeling that if it were possible for inanimate objects could like someone, this is what it would feel like. She waved it in a quick circle, and the wand let off a few green sparks that glittered in the air.

"Pretty!"

Sneezing, Avery smiled as her friend found the right wand. There was too much dust, and Amy causing all the dust to fly up really hadn't helped matters. Still clutching her wand, she allowed her father to pay for it and quickly slipped back out onto the street.

Once her companions joined her, she slipped her wand into the blue robes she had worn that day. It felt good to have a wand of her own, finally. Although she felt absolutely horrible for the mess she'd helped to create in the shop.

"Do you want to go to the pet store and look at the animals before we leave?" She asked.

Amy nodded, sniffling a bit and shoving her new wand into the front pocket of her jeans. "Yeah, sounds good." She glanced back at Olivander's. "Do you think that sort of thing always happens when people are trying to get their wands?" she wondered.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Avery said as she pushed open the door to the pet store. "I felt really bad for making a mess in there like that but somehow I get the feeling that it happens a lot."

There were all sorts of interesting animals in the pet store. Avery looked around, taking in the normal pets like the cats, toads, rats and owls before heading straight towards the owls. They were, after all, the most useful of the animals, no matter how cute she might find some of the cats. There was a beautiful barn owl that she noticed, one that stood out to her from all the others. It almost looked to her like some of his feathers were silvery and golden. And the rest were a pretty white.

Amy glanced around the store and immediately headed as far away from the owls as possible. A number of rats stared at her from their cage with beady black eyes, and started jump-roping with one's tail when they saw her looking at them. Amy giggled. "Oh, man, that's just adorable," she mumbled, smiling gently. There were a few cages with much less energetic rats, ranging from perfectly normal pet rats to ones in odd, unnatural colors. "You're all so cute," she cooed towards the rodents.

The owl Avery was admiring turned it's head to look at her, causing the girl to grin. She turned towards her father. "Dad, can we get him?" She asked, "He's so cute. And I can use him to send you letters when I'm at school, instead of having to rely on the school owls."

Since owls were the most useful of the pets, her father agreed and Avery was soon holding her new pet in his cage. She grinned at him. "I'm going to call you Seeker," She decided, seeing that it was her favorite Quidditch position and his light brownish colored feathers made her think of the golden stitch.

She went over to Avery with almost a bounce in her step while trying to hold Seeker steady. "Are you going to get a rat?" She asked, looking at them curiously.

Amy grinned and shook her head. "I wish, they're adorable. But you know how mum barely tolerated that hamster I had a few years ago." The jump-rope rats looked a little put out as she said it, making her wonder if the rodents were intelligent enough to understand her words. Considering that magic had already done so many odd things (a fuzzy, growling book, for one), she wouldn't be surprised. She turned and froze.

"You bought an owl." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Avery, are you trying to kill me?"

Avery shook her head. "No, I'm not. But I thought he was cute and I'd rather have my own owl then rely on the school owls when I want to send a letter home. Don't worry, these owls are trained to be pets. He won't hurt you."

She grinned. "Whenever you're ready to go home, I am too. If you want to keep looking for a pet though, I'll just follow you around."

Glancing one last time at the rats - they were just so cute - Amy sighed. "I guess we should head out. And I'll just take your word on that owl thing, and keep my distance from 'im anyway."

"Alright," Avery said as they left the store and started on their way back to their neighborhood.

((To Neighborhood))